Langhe, Monferrato and Gavi: these are the growing areas, where Michele Chiarlo produces for more than 50 years his wonderful wines.
He has always been considered a innovative producer, from the beginning in fact he headed to produce high quality wines, trying to gather only prestigious single-vineyards with great exposures. Because, as he says, “my father told me that only certain positions together with certain varietals can give the best quality ever”.
Nowadays his production is strongly export-oriented, with special attention to the not traditional markets, but he has not forgotten his roots. His strong sense of belonging to Piedmont is showed by the artistic park in La court, the vineyard of Barbera. The Chiarlo family together with Emanuele Luzzati (famous local artist) created a path through the vines, inspired to the four natural elements: fire, earth, air and water.
A very singular location, where arts underline the vines, the main focus of this park. Another sign of the enormous love of this family for grape, wine and life.
Mr Chiarlo when did you discover your passion for wine?
“It is flowing in my veins. My family has been farmers for seven generation, I can say I was born not among wines, but among grapes. After having attended 6 years the oenological school in Alba, I started a little winery with only 5 hectares ”.
But you headed directly to quality.
“It was a very difficult time, where quality had a scarce consideration. In that time people needed wine to consume, and they only wanted big quantities. Just consider that the actual average consume of wine per person is 44/45 litres; in that time it was almost 130 litres . They had no time to search for quality. I did not share the same vision, so I started a kind of “reconvertion”, to make quality wines. Step by step I reached my goal”.
How could you change then the mentality of the consumers as well?
“I had to make it clear that quality has its price. It was not easy. We understood straight away that the Italian market was not ready for high quality wines from Piedmont , except for Barolo, which had already his fame and could be sold at reasonable prices. Barbera d'Asti was considered a quantity wine, ideal only for big volumes. It was really not easy to explain that we worked with barbera d'Asti, but it was a high quality wine. That's why I immediately started to export”.
Was the situation better outside of Italy ?
“The export of Italian wines was quite small, because Italy was seen as a country of big volumes and competitive prices. Only France was considered able to produce quality wines. In Germany and Switzerland was easier to transmit our vision and it encouraged me to go on, following my path. Once I got paid reasonable prices for my wines in the export sector, I had money to invest in buying single-vineyards with great potential. And I did it, but it took long time”.
This is the philosophy behind the label Michele Chiarlo.
“Yes, patience and time. In Piedmont the microclimate and the micro elements of the soil are similar to the ones in Bourgogne , where the same conditions originated more than 200 years ago the phenomenon of the “crus”. The terroirs here change very rapidly, within a distance of less than 1 km you could go from the best to the worst conditions of growing. Therefore it was very difficult to gather important terroirs with great positions and exposures. It took time and patience”.
Nowadays the winery Michele Chiarlo owns 60 hectares and the average size of a winery in Piedmont is not yet 1 hectare .
“I can just say I was consequent choosing the spots to buy. I own now 60 hectares in the most vocated positions: in Barolo I have Cerequio area, in Monferrato I have Tenuta Aluffi for the Barbera d'Asti and Montemareto for the blends. They are vineyard with high quality standards, when properly run”.
Chiarlo is a real wine family.
“Yes, both of my sons are working with me in the winery: Stefano is the vigneron and works with me side by side; Alberto works in marketing and travels around Italy and worldwide to promote our wines”.
So you transmitted your passion to both of them.
“ I did not ask them to join me, they decided of their own free will. They love this job as much as I do. It gives lots of satisfactions. It is always challenging. I lived 52 vintages, and they have all be different”.
How was vintage 2007?
“Exceptional! Even if we always wait for the end of fermentation, before giving our final judgment.
The vintage started earlier, because we did not have a real wintertime. In August we were very worried, the vines were suffering because of the lack of rainfalls, but then we had 2 rainy days and they saved the values. The results are gorgeous, I cannot remember such a high aromatical spectrum in the past vintages”.
Which are the main features of the Chiarlo wines?
“They faithfully represent their terroir and their grape-varietal. We try to do as little as possible, aware of the fact that every clarification, filtration or other process could jeopardize the original character of the wines. We, of course, use wood for the fermentation, but we do not abuse of it. The wines are elegant and fine, never oaky”.
Do you use different procedures for white and red wines?
“Regarding white wines the most innovative procedure was adopted for Gavi: cold maceration of a part of the Cortese grapes before the pressing, in order to help a delicate extraction of the aromas from the grapes. Concerning the red wines, the most important things are the choice of the wood (always French oak), the size of the casks and their age. We use wooden casks also for the fermentation of the wines and different sizes of casks to refine the most important wines of our range”.
Do you have a favourite wine?
“I have two favourite wines: Barolo Cerequio and Barbera d'Asti Nizza La Court . Both of them represent two different growing areas: Langhe and Monferrato. They are our flag, and they gave us lots of satisfactions. Even if the person who has to be satisfied and pleased is the final consumer”.
Which is the most exciting moment in making a wine?
“Fermentation. This is the moment where you can see the wine coming into the world”.
Panorama | Style | Madia | Il Gusto | La Perla
Cucina Italiana | Spirito DiVino n.20 | Spirito DiVino n.21 | Euposia | Corriere Della Sera (libro inserto: Piemonte) | Il Venerdì di Repubblica | Panorama | Cucina & Vini | Ville & Giardini | Il Messaggero | Capital
Michele
Chiarlo - Azienda Vitivinicola
strada
Nizza-Canelli, Calamandrana (AT) Italy
telefono: (+39) 0141 769030 - fax: (+39) 0141 769033
www.chiarlo.it
©
2003